Budget Sunburst hardtail
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ByteFrenzy
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tfarny said:
Hey, we cheat all the time. Using a screwdriver on neck screws instead of our fingernails, using a hex wrench to tighten pot nuts instead of our teeth, wimps...
Wouldn't you be able to have more control over the 'hardness' and the 'granularity' of the of the burst by using an airbrush? Those are not too expensive for relatively decent ones, certainly compared to a full spray painting setup...
More Mistakes! I'm learning a lot here, wow there's less margin for error in spraying burst than in the other finishing I've done.
1. to shoot the sides of the body, I made a cardboard cutout but only for one side. I've been spraying with the guitar setting on top of an empty wine box, and the outline of the box is clearly visible in this pic - look towards the bottom of the guitar and you can clearly see an outline. I also taped off the burst section of the tummy cut, to avoid getting paint in there but I ended up with a clearly noticeable line there too.
2. The tobacco brown can ran out of paint! I couldn't believe how little paint you can get away with putting into a $13 can. There are still some lighter spots where the amber shows through, around the heel area.
3. The tape I had put on to cover the neck pocket curled over the edge a bit, so there's a jagged line right under where the neck will be. If this was for me, I might let that slide but it's for a friend and I want it to be right.
4. In trying to repair the mistakes, I carefully went over with 400 paper and steel wool, and basically they did nothing - I sanded through the clear and lightened the amber in one section, and the tummy cut area doesn't look any better for my efforts there.
Next step: sand the back to bare wood, spray amber again. If I have enough amber left in the can, that'll be great. If not, order both amber and brown from stew mac and wait.
Question: I'm assuming the amber over brown will tint the brown, so I should tape off the sides when I do this, right? I don't want to start from 100% scratch again, and I'm really happy with the way the top looks, its just the back and the neck pocket area that need help.
1. to shoot the sides of the body, I made a cardboard cutout but only for one side. I've been spraying with the guitar setting on top of an empty wine box, and the outline of the box is clearly visible in this pic - look towards the bottom of the guitar and you can clearly see an outline. I also taped off the burst section of the tummy cut, to avoid getting paint in there but I ended up with a clearly noticeable line there too.
2. The tobacco brown can ran out of paint! I couldn't believe how little paint you can get away with putting into a $13 can. There are still some lighter spots where the amber shows through, around the heel area.
3. The tape I had put on to cover the neck pocket curled over the edge a bit, so there's a jagged line right under where the neck will be. If this was for me, I might let that slide but it's for a friend and I want it to be right.
4. In trying to repair the mistakes, I carefully went over with 400 paper and steel wool, and basically they did nothing - I sanded through the clear and lightened the amber in one section, and the tummy cut area doesn't look any better for my efforts there.
Next step: sand the back to bare wood, spray amber again. If I have enough amber left in the can, that'll be great. If not, order both amber and brown from stew mac and wait.
Question: I'm assuming the amber over brown will tint the brown, so I should tape off the sides when I do this, right? I don't want to start from 100% scratch again, and I'm really happy with the way the top looks, its just the back and the neck pocket area that need help.
Tonar8352
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The thing about doing a sunburst is once you have done one you never look at a sunburst guitar the same. Actually anytime you finish a guitar you never look at another one the same. I look for specks of dust in any Gold-top guitar I see now that I have sprayed gold powder. I run screaming when I see binding and I just ordered a Thinline with double binding. Its all one big learning curve that makes you appreciate the beauty of these things even more.
I have made so many mistakes. I tried using tape on the back of a 68 Mosrite 12 String neck to make a clean line between the colors. That was a mistake, now I don’t get tape near a sunburst.
Once, I wiped over spray dust off the back of a burst with my finger and it left a perfect line in the finish that showed through the clear. Now, I never touch a burst until it has at least 2 coats of clear over the colors.
I have forgotten to save enough left over material to touch up an area that I burn through during level sanding. That never happens now. But I did do a dummy thing the other day when I shaded a burn through and it matched real good, then I decided to sand it back a little before I put clear on. You can see sanding scratched in the color perfectly; I should have spray clear over it and left it alone.
I have learned not to point out mistakes to anyone and they probably will not notice.
Live and learn, I guess that’s the reason I like doing this so much. I’m still trying to make the perfect build and every guitar has it’s own story.
Thank you for sharing this one. I’m sure many people will learn a lot from this thread.
I have made so many mistakes. I tried using tape on the back of a 68 Mosrite 12 String neck to make a clean line between the colors. That was a mistake, now I don’t get tape near a sunburst.
Once, I wiped over spray dust off the back of a burst with my finger and it left a perfect line in the finish that showed through the clear. Now, I never touch a burst until it has at least 2 coats of clear over the colors.
I have forgotten to save enough left over material to touch up an area that I burn through during level sanding. That never happens now. But I did do a dummy thing the other day when I shaded a burn through and it matched real good, then I decided to sand it back a little before I put clear on. You can see sanding scratched in the color perfectly; I should have spray clear over it and left it alone.
I have learned not to point out mistakes to anyone and they probably will not notice.
Live and learn, I guess that’s the reason I like doing this so much. I’m still trying to make the perfect build and every guitar has it’s own story.
Thank you for sharing this one. I’m sure many people will learn a lot from this thread.
ByteFrenzy
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Usually, repairing will only make things worse... Usually, it's only when you've done your second sunburst finish that you see everything you did worng with the first one. When you finish the third, you see what was wrong with the previous two. Ultimately, the differences get smaller and smaller, but somehow the learning curve goes on for a very long time. Maybe forever. This is true for everything new you try, not just sunburst finishes (or even building guitars for that matter). You can't expect a perfect result on the first attempt. So, you need to do two things: first of all, do some practice runs on a peice of scrap, second, decide what you can live with and what you think is unacceptable. If your attempt comes out bad, do some more test runs until you know what went wrong, then restart from the beginning. And you're right, the front does look very good. If you do the back the same way your friend will be proud.
Also got the neck! All maple, corian nut, SRV contour. This contour seems just about right to me, I wish I'd ordered it on the LP that's on the way. This one is going up for sale, unfortunately.
I'm about to start buffing out the neck, I finished spraying it a couple of weeks ago.
I'm about to start buffing out the neck, I finished spraying it a couple of weeks ago.
bpmorton777
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looking good! How much time have you spent doing the finish so far? Did you have to buy more cans?
Brian
Brian
Thanks. Well, I've spent hours of course. I'd say though, that spraying nitro is actually easier and less time-consuming than wiping on tung oil (as CB told me long ago!) But the burst is a lot harder than it looks and there's no shortcut. I ended up having to buy two cans of the brown, which was odd since that color got used the least, and it's still not 100% opaque in some spots. But I think it gives it a bit of character and the flaws are not too obvious.
Easiest finishing method I can figure out: use minwax oil based stain then clear nitro over alder, maple, or some other wood that doesn't need filling. I did one-step wipe-on poly on one, and the buyer was happy but I didn't think it looked that great.
Easiest finishing method I can figure out: use minwax oil based stain then clear nitro over alder, maple, or some other wood that doesn't need filling. I did one-step wipe-on poly on one, and the buyer was happy but I didn't think it looked that great.
Well, nearly done with it! I got the parts out of storage a few days ago and finally got it mostly done tonight. I ended up just buffing it out with 0000 steel wool instead of wet-sanding, I guess because I like that look. I was also afraid of sanding through the clear since I don't have access to a spraying place or any equipment any more. The neck was dyed a few times with minwax golden pecan color stain, it's a bit darker than it looks in the photos.
I just need to buy one more white pup cover and then fine tune it. So far I'm really happy with how it feels and I like the SRV neck a lot, just in my limited four-string (leftovers) forays.
The pre-installed Corian nut broke into two pieces and one piece popped out, I'm supergluing it back in place because it seems easier than complaining, and I'm not about to send it back just for that. Not a major biggie. It needed some work anyhow (a bit too high and tight). Those nut files that warmoth sells are paying for themselves over and over - for less than the price of a tech messing with the nut, I get it just how I like it.
Can't post photos right now, so I put them on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tfarny/sets/72157605178544798/show/
I just need to buy one more white pup cover and then fine tune it. So far I'm really happy with how it feels and I like the SRV neck a lot, just in my limited four-string (leftovers) forays.
The pre-installed Corian nut broke into two pieces and one piece popped out, I'm supergluing it back in place because it seems easier than complaining, and I'm not about to send it back just for that. Not a major biggie. It needed some work anyhow (a bit too high and tight). Those nut files that warmoth sells are paying for themselves over and over - for less than the price of a tech messing with the nut, I get it just how I like it.
Can't post photos right now, so I put them on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tfarny/sets/72157605178544798/show/
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